Locked and Loaded
by minazukihatta
Summary: "You're getting a gun," Adam says-no, outright states to Jaune. In which Jaune and Adam are partners that graduated from Beacon and getting a gun solidifies what's between them. Bloody Knight (Jaune x Adam). Warning: Past unhealthy relationship because this is Adam Taurus we're talking about.


**WHY DID I WRITE THIS? WHY DID I CREATE THIS SHIP? WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME? Anyway, this is Bloody Knight (Jaune x Adam) getting a gun. This is an AU version of Adam since canon!Adam would not touch Jaune with a ten foot pole and is more likely to kill him than kiss him. Context is that Adam is younger, in his teens when he followed Blake to Beacon. Oscar was also in the White Fang but he doesn't have a big role to play and is just a mention (because the farm boy origin is overused and boring and I honestly dislike those kinds of origins).**

"You're getting a gun," Adam says- _no_ , outright states, when he and Jaune are back in Vale, hanging out in the Hunter's hub. Adam sits across from Jaune, legs propped up on the coffee table, leaning back on the stiff couch with his arms crossed.

Jaune still isn't sure how Adam ended up as his new hunting partner. There wasn't much they had in common other than both being primarily sword wielders and that they had a mutual friend in Blake and Oscar. Even then, Jaune wasn't that close to Blake and Oscar, only connecting to them through other people. Jaune had been the class loser and Adam … Adam was top of the class, beating even Pyrrha. His hatred of humans outrivaled Cardin's disdain of faunus. The reason Adam was even in Beacon in first place was because he was super (and creepily) clingy with Blake.

"I'm sorry?" Jaune asks.

"A gun," Adam repeats, as though Jaune is being obtuse. "You're getting one. A Glock, a revolver, a gun-sword. I don't care. You need a weapon with range."

"I think I'm doing fine with Crocea Mors." Jaune pats the sheathed sword, the blend of Olympian bronze and Galahadean steel. Of Pyrrha and Jaune. The pain of losing Pyrrha had lessened over the years, time healing his wounds, but it still hurt.

Jaune wouldn't admit it out loud to Adam, but he'd rather be hunting with Pyrrha than Adam, even if he and the prickly faunus had become tentative friends.

"A gun helps in some situations where swords can't," Adam explains. "For example, when we're fighting against a Nevermore, you don't have to uselessly swing your sword against air."

"Hey!"

"You could add a mechanism to your sword. That way you don't have to waste time changing weapons."

"I just … this is a family relic."Jaune trails his fingers over the worn blue leather of his sword's hilt. "I don't wanna change it too much."

"Well, you already did. Didn't you get it upgraded with your old partner's weapons?" Adam points out.

"That had sentimental value! Besides, it was the thought that count."

 _By my shoulder, I protect thee,_ Pyrrha had said. A promise and a curse. In the end, Pyrrha kept her promise, shoving Jaune into a locker and sending it rocketing into the sky, far away from her.

Adam opens his mouth. And closes it. Adam is an asshole, with a bias against humans that has worn down with age and acquaintance. Jaune likes to think that Adam has grown more emotionally mature and moved on from pouting and throwing tantrums.

"I …" Adam starts. "I think your ancestors and Pyrrha wouldn't mind if you changed Crocea Mor's design. They'd want you to be able to protect yourself. And even then if you don't want to change Crocea Mors, you could get a separate weapon. You're already fine without a gun. It's just … a precaution."

"You got a point though," Jaune concedes heavily, leaning forwards on his knees. "I'll think about it. Talk to Ruby maybe. She knows all about putting guns on weapons."

Adam chuckles fondly. "I miss Bullet the Roomba."

Jaune shivers with the memory. Ruby thought it'd be a good idea to pun a paint gun on a roomba. And Penny-sweet, naive Penny-who was visiting Ruby at Beacon at the time, _helped._ The roomba plagued the halls of the dorms, painfully and mercilessly pelting anybody with thankfully washable paint if they made a mess. Which Jaune did, with his natural clumsiness. "I don't."

"Aw, Bullet would shoot you if he heard that."

"Good thing Bullet got trashed by Cardin then." Which led to Cardin getting trashed by a grief-stricken Ruby and Penny.

Adam gasps melodramatically, hand over his chest. "I did not think you were capable of being this petty."

"Yeah, well, I'm human after all. I can be nice and petty."

Adma nods solemnly. His behaviour changed since Jaune first met him, the faunus sneering down at him as Jaune vomited into a garbage bin seconds after getting off the airship to Beacon. There's a fondness in Adam's eyes now as he regards Jaune. "That you are ..."

* * *

Adam is Jaune's partner. In everything. Which is why Adam ends up on their shared bed, because paying for one room is cheaper than paying for two, holding Jaune from behind, arms linked around his shirtless chest. Adam's close enough that Jaune can feel the moisture on his skin and the water dampening his rose red hair from his shower.

Jaune has always been confused about their situation. Adam tells him not to think too much about it and throws him against the nearest surface, slamming his lips against Jaune's. They definitely need to define the relationship between the both of them and Jaune plans for Adam to kiss his dirty, gloved hand if the faunus wants to distract him again.

Jaune holds the copy of the blueprint in his hands, explaining the upgrade to Adam.

"Basically I'll be able to retract Crocea Mors into a gun," Jaune simplifies the whole complex explanation Ruby and the blacksmith gave him. "It should be good in three weeks. Do you mind staying here that long?"

Adam has always been antsy staying anywhere for too long. Adam had never been too widely publicized, his mask from his White Fang days and the shades he wore in Beacon obscuring his identity. Jaune thinks it might be a carry over from his past, something Adam seldom talked to him about. It might be a particular quirk of Adam's, though . He's never one for urban settings unless he had to be.

"It's fine," Adam grunts out. After a pause, Adam speaks again. "You didn't have to."

"You brought it up. I thought you wanted this."

"I do. But if my therapy sessions in jail and my relationship with Blake taught me anything, I can be … pushy."

"A control freak."

"Shut up," Adam snaps. "Yeah …" Adam buries his face in the juncture between Jaune's neck and his shoulder. "I just … don't want to lose another partner."

Wow. Honesty. That's not to say Adam is a lie. Well, he is, sometimes. But Adam was never this _kind_ of honest around Jaune-the _intimate_ kind of honest that had Adam grudgingly expressing his feelings.

Blake left Adam of her own will. Something Adam saw as abandonment and betrayal and made him follow Blake to Beacon if only to laugh in her face when the humans discovered her identity and turned on her. Although, from what Jaune saw, Blake was saving herself from an unhealthy relationship with an emotionally immature and, most likely, abusive prick.

"I'll leave if you start pulling the same stuff on me like you did Blake," Jaune replies, hand threading through Adam's hair. "Besides, if I have to stick around so do you. I'm not really interested in having another dead partner."

The words hurt but they were true at its core.

"Good thing I'm hard to kill then," Adam huffs, satisfied with the answer. His fingers curl around Jaune's chin, turning him ever so slightly and pressing a soft kiss to Jaune's lips. A pinch of skin and then Jaune opens his mouth, allowing Adam in deeper. Jaune drops the blueprint on the bed, one hand closing around the back of Adam's neck and the other on Adam's firm shoulder.

"You know," Jaune says, pulling away from Adam to catch his breath. A red flush blooms on his cheek that burns even further when he notices the trail of drool connecting their lips. "Maybe we don't need to define what we have. We're already partners. That's good enough for me."

Adam considers this, tilting his head. "Yeah, it works." And leans downs for another kiss. With every press of their lips, they grow hungrier for the other. Adam pushes Jaune down on the bed and sneaking his hand down Jaune's pants.

* * *

It's hypnotising to watch the metal slide and the gears rotate, Crocea Mors changing into its gun form. Jaune holds the weapon, aiming it at a target painted to a boulder some feet away. Jaune had specified that he should be able to hold it in one hand, seeing as how he would holding his shield in the other. The bullets ring out through the air like thunderclaps.

Jaune draws the gun down, the muzzle safely facing the grassy ground. He could make out the bullet shaped dents in the rock. However, despite Jaune practicing his aim the past month with Adam, his hits were not as accurate as he liked. They managed to hit the builders but were scattered inconsistently through the painted target, some even out of range.

"It just takes practice," Adam tells him, walking up from behind and tossing a clip to Jaune. "At least you're not atrociously bad." Adam smiles beatifically. "I will never forget your screams of terror as you were catapulted into the air during initiation."

"Why are you my partner again?"

"At first I thought you were a masochist but then I realised you actually like me."

"Dick," Jaune mutters.

"You like that too."

Jaune groans.

"You ready to go?" Adam asks, holding out his hand to Jaune.

Jaune grins, threading his fingers through Adam and linking them. "Ready as I'll ever, partner."


End file.
